Pending home sales here dropped 22.3 percent in July, the third straight monthly decline, a new report says.

The county saw 352 sales last month, down from 453 in July 2009, the Lancaster County Association of Realtors said Thursday.

LCAR blamed the end of the homebuyer tax credit and the weak economy for depressing sales to their lowest mark for July in at least 10 years.

In contrast, during 2006 and 2007, when the economy — and housing market — were hot, pending local sales in July easily surpassed 500.

"We realize the numbers are down but we expected the numbers to be down," said LCAR president Bob Rose. "Nobody is surprised.

"Are we in the market we were three years ago? No. Nobody is. We're all adjusting to a different economic climate," he said.

Despite the downturn, Rose said, there are several encouraging signs in the new report.

Though below their 2009 counterparts, pending sales have improved on a sequential basis.

In other words, June was better than May, and July was better than June, Rose said.

Rose also pointed out that the decline here is less severe than the nationwide dip of 27 percent.

That reflects the moderation often seen in the local real estate market, he said.

In boom times, the local market doesn't get quite as hot as the national market does.

And in downturns, like the one now, the local market doesn't get quite as cold, Rose said.

"I always tell people that Lancaster County is like the tortoise, not the hare. The race may not be as fast, but we'll be all right in the end," he said.

Rose predicted that the September and October sales figures will "tell the tale" about the health of the market.

The market has been in transition the past few months, following the April 30 expiration of the homebuyer tax credit, he said.

The federal tax credit nudged many "fence-sitters" into going forward with a purchase, the Realtors' report says.

And its April 30 expiration prompted many potential homebuyers to accelerate the purchasing process to beat the deadline.

That was good for the pending sales figures this spring, not so good for the figures immediately thereafter.

"We knew there would be a retooling of the profiles of buyers," said Rose.

"People are buying now because of great interest rates and competitive prices.

"They're doing it because they really want to and they see value," he said.

"The activity is out there. We see it at open houses."

Rose said current market conditions have led to "some real happy buyers" who've gotten either lower payments or more house than they expected.

Taking a closer look at the local figures, four of five price categories skidded in July, the LCAR report says.

Pending sales of homes priced at $100,000 or less fell 24.2 percent to 50 homes.

Homes priced between $100,001 to $200,000 saw a 28.4 percent drop to 159 homes put under agreement.

Homes between $200,001 to $300,000 saw a 17.1 percent dip to 97 homes. Homes between $300,001 to $400,000 saw a 16.1 percent decline to 26 homes.

Only the smallest category, homes put under agreement for $400,001 and up, saw growth. It increased 17.6 percent to 20 homes.

Pending sales, or homes placed under a sales agreement, are considered the most current indicator of housing market activity.

Pending sales usually are settled (completed) a month or two after the sales agreement is signed.

Settled sales also decreased sharply in July, according to LCAR, falling 38.3 percent to 276, from 447 in July 2009.

However, the average price of those settled sales went the opposite way, up 8 percent to a record $210,200.

tmekeel@lnpnews.com